The Wonderful Witch Hazel

Witch hazel (hamamelis virginiana) is a tall shrub or multi-stemmed small tree that can reach 10 to 25 feet high if not pruned back. Lavalette has both the attractive yellow and red varieties. It's one of the few shrubs that flowers in autumn, producing fragrant blooms with harrow, wavy petals from September to November. The foliage turns yellow and gold in the fall. Hard-shell fruits that shoot out seeds are visible in autumn.

The name is thought to be coined by early settlers in North America, probably due to the plant's resemblance to the common hazel used for water divining and to its almost magical healing powers.

Witching rods are forked pieces of witch hazel wood, used by "witchers" or "diviners" to determine the location of underground water and gold. The points of the rods must point north and south, so that the rod is influenced by both the rising and setting sun. Supposedly the rods tug downward when there is water or gold beneath the ground.

Witch hazel also has several medicinal uses, including an ointment for sore muscles.